Treat the Heart Disease, Help the Erectile Dysfunction

By Katherine Hobson

Getting exercise, achieving a healthy weight, avoiding smoking — those steps are a standard prescription for people who want to lower their risk of cardiovascular disease.

But according to a new review of previously published studies, they’re also a good way to improve erectile dysfunction. According to their review, those lifestyle interventions (on their own and combined with statin drugs) were associated with a statistically significant improvement in sexual function, write the authors of the new analysis, published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

“If you help the blood flow in one area, you can help it in another,” Stephen Kopecky, an author of the study and a preventive cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic.

Kopecky tells the Health Blog that not all men who experience erectile dysfunction have coronary artery disease — a narrowing of the blood vessels leading to the heart. But ED is a risk factor for CAD, and tends to show up three to five years ahead of heart problems.

That can make it an important warning sign, particularly for younger men. A 60-year-old man with ED has only a slightly higher chance of having cardiovascular disease, he says. But a 40-year-old man with ED is 50 times more likely to have CAD than a contemporary without ED, he says.

Kopecky says ED is also a unique warning sign in another way. It’s no secret that men tend to be reluctant to go to the doctor or to disclose symptoms of potentially dangerous conditions. But while men may not tell their spouses or partners about chest pain that hits while going up the stairs, ED is different. “You can’t hide from it,” he says.

That may prompt a partner to suggest a visit to the doctor, he says.

Of course plenty of men treat their ED problems with drugs such as Viagra, Levitra and Cialis. But like statins, ED drugs work better when they’re combined with lifestyle measures, Kopecky says. Men who have had to ramp up their ED drug dosage over the years might respond better to lower dosages if they lose weight, eat more healthfully, get exercise and stop smoking, he says.

Comments (4 of 4)

There are still gluten thug - although there are opponents on this issue, too (Chris Masterjohn). (It is not the same as the WGA.) A diet that regularly includes large amounts of phytic acid is probably not a good idea fora href= "http://www.mobisurg.com">health. And I do not think we can give the omega-6, a full step, however, either.

8:58 am September 14, 2011

Carlos Monteiro wrote :

I agree that lifestyle interventions like getting exercize and avoiding smoking are important measures to reduce stress and the consequent sympathetic predominance, which studies are showing that may be an important trigger for ED and cardiovascular disease. However, the use of statins for ED is highly contradictory taking in view the results of studies (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) that have made, for example, the following conclusions:
- Considering the widespread use of this drug class and the under-reporting of this particular reaction it could affect a large number of patients. The reaction seems to be reversible in most of the cases after drug withdrawal. Doctors should be aware of this potential adverse reaction when prescribing statins to their patients.
- The systematic review procedure was applied successfully to collect evidence suggesting that both statins and fibrates may cause ED. More numerous reports to regulatory agencies complemented more detailed information from case reports to provide a new perspective on a common area of prescribing.
Carlos Monteiro
President
Infarct Combat Projecthttp://www.infarctcombat.org
Blog: http://www.aciditytheory.blogspot.com
References
1. Drug points. Simvastatin and impotence. Jackson G, BMJ 1997;315:31
2. Comment. HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor-induced impotence. Boyd IW, Ann Pharmacotherap 1996;30:1199
3. Is decreased libido associated with the use of HMG-CoA-reductase inhibitors? de Graaf L, et al. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2004; 58 (3): 326-328.
4. HMG CoA Reductase Inhibitors and Impotence: Two Case Series from the Spanish and French Drug Monitoring Systems, Carvajal, A et al. Drug Safety, Volume 29, Number 2, 2006, pp. 143-149(7) http://tinyurl.com/p6ypz
5. Rizvi K, Hampson JP, Harvey JN. Do lipid-lowering drugs cause erectile dysfunction? A systematic review. Fam Pract. 2002 Feb;19(1):95-8.
6. Do C, Huyghe E, Lapeyre-Mestre M, Montastruc JL, Bagheri H. Statins and erectile dysfunction: results of a case/non-case study using the French Pharmacovigilance System Database. Drug Saf. 2009;32(7):591-7

3:25 am September 13, 2011

Nafees Khaiser wrote :

I have found this useful as I am really scared with CAD and I dont wann to be a cardiac. Thanks